the corner office http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog all posts at the corner office Colin Pretorius http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/02/120204-2257.html Snow ... and we have snow. The BBC weather site was saying 'it's snowing outside' and the window by my desk was saying 'oh no it's not.' It took until about 20 past 7 this evening to start falling. Non-stop since, a bit windy which isn't great since I wouldn't mind if the snow stuck around and kept falling for a bit longer, preferably until after Tuesday when I'm due to write my final exam.

Apparently it's due to keep falling until tomorrow morning. This is coming in from the west, which is a bit weird since all of frozen Europe is east. Anyway, I'm not complaining.

]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/02/120203-2129.html A thought on the departure of windfarm Huhne Having an affair is plain wrong, having an affair when your spouse knows about your skeletons is plain stupid.

]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/02/120202-2308.html Cold Yesterday morning Leo and I looked out his bedroom window and there were patches of white on top of the garden walls and in some of the flower pots. Ronwen reckoned it was frost but it looked a little thicker than that to me, I'd take it as snow, meself. We've had a few flurries - first in December for an hour or two, and then earlier this week, but nothing yet in the settled 'winter wonderland' sense.

That might change this coming week. I love the snow, but the death toll in Europe is putting a bit of a damper on any excitement when it comes to the weather.

]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/02/120202-1140.html Profitable? Never mind last night's crikey, this is crikey:

This included news that Facebook's net income in 2011 rose 65% to $1bn, off revenues of $3.71bn.
]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/02/120201-2219.html So many books, so few shelves.... Crikey:

It's fair to say that I have the biggest private library in England. There must be 20,000 volumes here.

The M-P household has around 1,000 and even that causes some domestic tension. Then again, we don't have butler's pantries and attics.

]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/01/120131-2259.html Dishonour A baying mob, and spineless politicians who'll say and do anything to win their votes. He may have been an arsehole, but it's still sickening to read about Fred the Shred's stripped knighthood. The dude messed up but he wasn't the only banker or businessman to make bad decisions, and forget not all the politicians who cheered him on. Brown's incompetence has cost the country far more than Goodwin ever could.

Alex Massie says it best:

Not for the first time one thinks of Macaulay's quip: We know no spectacle so ridiculous as the British public in one of its periodical fits of morality. As then so now. Goodwin is a useful sacrifice to toss to the mob and few people are likely to shed too many tears over his final demise. Nevertheless, kicking a man again when he is already down (in terms of reputation though not, I concede, financially) is the sort of thing that, once upon a time, the British thought was not terribly British.
]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/01/120130-0924.html RBS I don't know whether Hester is worth what he was due to be paid. Most importantly, I know I don't know.

Now, I could say some uncharitable things about the line of thinking (or lack thereof) driving the outcry over Hester's bonus, but I won't. Instead, I'll just quote Daniel Hannan:

Are you upset about Stephen Hester's pay deal? If so, peer into your soul and ask yourself why.

Update: I still have no view on whether Hester's worth the money but the people who own the other 17% of the bank clearly do: Ed and Dave and Nick have just wiped £320m off the value of the bank. Well done gents.

]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/01/120129-2118.html Just wanted to say My wife is awesome and makes me tea when I am studying.

]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/01/120128-1129.html Repeat after me RBS is NOT owned by UK taxpayers. I'm a UK taxpayer, in what way do I 'own' a share of RBS? Can I sell my shares or do anything with them? Do I get dividends?

]]> http://www.thecorneroffice.org/blog/plink/2012/01/120126-2202.html First Class Education II Friends will be reading the previous post and thinking 'boozing and shagging? ORLY?' I take license, naturally, and even in my day there were people studying themselves into husks trying to get their degrees, people working crazy hours and holding down part time jobs to pay their way, but for the most part, my point stands.

On a serious note, the real issue with online education is credentialling. It's one thing to know postgraduate-level calculus backwards, it's another to get someone reading your CV to know that and believe it. But there's a market for it, this already happens in places, and I have no doubt that more will come.

The other side effect of the widespread availability of knowledge and university-level education online is that the premium on education drops. This ties in with the iPhones in China post from a few days ago: on a planet full of people who've mastered postgraduate calculus, your average graduate just ain't so special anymore. Our kids will have to run a lot further just to stand still.

That's a daunting thought, but I go back to my previous point: the mountains might be higher, but the climbing equipment is a whole lot better. As is the view.

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